THE WHO TO RETIRE IN 2015?

English rockers might stop touring after 50th-anniversary trek

Is it adios for The Who, the legendary English rock band that most recently performed in San Diego in February at Valley View Casino Center as part of its “Quadrophenia & More” tour? Apparently so, at least when it comes to touring.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard newspaper, Who co-founder Pete Townshend said the band’s 50th anniversary in 2015 would also mark its final tour, although he parsed his words.

“For the 50th anniversary, we’ll tour the world. It’ll be the last big one for us. There are still plenty of places we’ve not played. It would be good to go to Eastern Europe and places that haven’t heard us play all the old hits.”

Does “last big one” mean “last tour”?

Again, the answer is apparently so, although rock stars have been known to change their minds, especially when it comes to retirement. For the record, this would not be the first farewell tour by The Who. The band’s first farewell tour, in 1982(!), included a stop here at what was then San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Then again, Townshend is 68 and has struggled with severe hearing problems for decades. Singer Roger Daltrey is 69 and has dealt with an array of health issues of his own. The Who’s first single and album were released in 1965.

Could this announcement be timed to coincide with the Nov. 12 release of The Who’s new “expanded” box set for “Tommy,” its pioneering rock opera (which the La Jolla Playhouse transformed into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical 20 years ago)? Possibly.

But it’s worth remembering that, as far back as 1993, Townshend was ready to stop working with The Who, as he confirmed in a 2007 U-T San Diego interview.

“I have to admit that back in 1993, with ‘Tommy’ on Broadway, I had absolutely no intention of working with The Who again,” Townshend said in 2007. “I was very unhappy that ‘Tommy’ on Broadway was called ‘The Who’s Tommy.’ From an authorial point of view ‘Tommy’ is my story, no one else’s.”